Though the gap may have seemed huge, LH did his quick time on options already used for 5 previous flying laps. So HAM set his quick time on old tires. I think its fair to say had he bolted on fresh options at the start of Q3, he would have comfortably out qualified ROS, though it can be argued he was given new options in his second run but didn’t seemingly have the pace, but the track at this stage had passed its best, which is emphasised by the poor laps from JB and WEB as they done their hot laps at the latter stage of Q3.

I think if HAM had been given fresh options for his first run in Q3, he would have comfortably out qualified ROS.

It can be argued he was given new options in his second run but didn’t seemingly have the pace

Yes, it can. That much is fact, while the state of the track is open to speculation.

If you’re a Hamilton fan, I’m not sure why you would want to argue that he could have been on pole. That would mean he underperformed. Regardless, it doesn’t matter if he could have been on pole, as the fact was the he wasn’t. If I were you I’d just accept that Rosberg put together a perfect lap and feel happy that Hamilton made it from seventh to third in the race.

LH did his quick time on options already used for 5 previous flying laps.

I’m pretty sure he didn’t. Although I have no confirmation, I believe this is Hamilton’s soft tyre usage last weekend:

1. First run in Q2 on fresh softs
2. At the end of Q2, McLaren sent their drivers out again, because it was unsure whether the initial times were good enough for Q3, and I am assuming Hamilton used fresh softs for this. Hamilton pitted at the end of his outlap, however, opting not to do a run after all (or not making the chequered flag, because he was out pretty late).
3. At the start of Q3, Hamilton went out on the tyres he had just done the outlap on, and set a time. I therefore think that his tyres were not optimal, but they had at least not done a flying lap. To answer your question, I don’t think his tyres accounted for the 0.5s gap to Rosberg; perhaps they accounted for 0.1/0.2s, and then with a perfect lap, who knows? I think Rosberg in the Mercedes was simply faster on Saturday.
4. Hamilton went out again for a second run in Q3, but by then the track conditions had changed, and everyone was setting rubbish lap times.

@prisoner-monkeys, I don’t think mclaren’s question is in any way an indication of Hamilton fans trying to prove anything. It’s simply an enquiry into how much faster he might have been on new tyres (and under the assumption that the ones he set his time with were old).

I was thrilled at how he limited the damaged which was inflicted upon him before he had turned a wheel on track, but was just wanting others opinions as to how much difference in performance there is between Fresh options and 5 laps old options???

i was just fascinated by the fact that his tyres were 5 laps old when he used them in Q3.

The fact that Hamilton had to set a lap time on tyres that were five laps old proves that he did not have what was needed to beat Rosberg. McLaren didn’t just slap a pair of old tyres on and cut him loose – Hamilton obviously used up all of his tyres to that point, and the old tyres were the best that he had left. He physically couldn’t beat Rosberg’s time because he had already used all of his tyres to get to the point where he set his Q3 lap time.

Maybe if he had tried, he could have been closer to Rosberg’s time, maybe he could have got pole. But why would he? The advantage is sixth instead of seventh, the disadvantage of trying is that he potentially ruins his last set of options. If he pushed his car and accidentally flat-spotted his tyres, he would have been a lot further from home!
Another reason for not trying is that 6th, 7th or 8th doesn’t have that much of an influence anymore. Just look at how easy it was for the McLarens to pass other cars (like both RBs). Nowadays, mostly drivers finish where the pace of the car is.

If he COULD have been faster: well that Mercedes was pretty quick… I don’t think so

I don’t think he had the pace – partially due to Rosberg’s supremely-timed run, but also because Rosberg’s raw speed in Q3 was awesome and also Mercs were flying down that straight.

I’d not realised that Hamilton had gone out on used softs both times, I’d thought he’d wasted a pair going out for a second run. Actually he was comfortably in 2nd, for all the difference that +/- one place in timing was going to make after a 5 place grid drop, I think it was rather pointless having another go out on the tyres, should have preserved them even if just for 1/2 additional timed laps.